Chapter 3 Part 3: Their Childhood

1. (3)

What Rosa had thought of was simple.

“It’s a nice day to think outside, how about we try playing chess?”

“Chess..?”

“It’s a game. I made the pieces in advance, so wait a minute.”

Caron wasn’t the only one looking forward to this time. Rosa had also thought of various games to relieve her boredom.

Soon, she brought out the wooden chess pieces. They sat facing each other across a wooden table in the villa’s backyard. Rosa began to explain the rules of the game called chess.

“This is a bishop, and this is a queen. They can move as I just showed you. This is a rook, and this is a knight.”

“Then what’s this?”

Caron picked up the king.

“That’s the king. It’s the most important piece, like the king. If the king is captured by the opponent, you lose the game.”

Board games are all similar. Caron was starting to get a feel for it since there was a similar game in high society.

“Do you understand?”

“Let’s just play.”

They started playing chess right away. Rosa won the first few games easily. But gradually, each game started to take longer and longer.

Click-

In this game, Caron moved his king frequently.

‘That’s not how you’re supposed to play.’

Rosa thought to herself. But as time went on, it was her side that was gradually losing pieces.

‘What’s going on..?’

Before she could get too flustered, only Caron’s black pieces remained on the board. It felt like she’d been robbed blind.

“Again!”

Another new game began.

“Checkmate.”

Caron’s declaration fell once again. Rosa muttered, bewildered.

“I was moving my king a lot, so why did I lose?”

“The answer is in your words.”

Caron said, trapping the white king.

“It’s most effective to move the king.”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t trust the others.”

For a brief moment, she felt a sense of sincerity in those words.

They played several more games, but now Caron won every single one. Rosa kept calling for another game, but her calls became increasingly hollow.

Finally, as it was getting dark, they put away the chess pieces and stood up.

“Caron, just go today.”

“Why?”

They always ate dinner together, it was an unspoken agreement. Rosa sighed and said, “If you eat with me, you might catch my stupidity.”

‘How can he beat me when he just learned today?’

She seemed to mutter something like that.

Of course, Caron knew. Rosa wasn’t being serious. As expected, she retracted her words.

“Just kidding. Let’s eat together.”

Caron quietly followed her.

That day was the day before the Harvest Festival. The table was laden with a feast.

Freshly baked rye bread, a delicious-looking roast turkey, a soft egg omelet, beef stew made with aged wine, salad, corn soup, and various desserts.

Rosa served Caron’s portion first as if she were his older sister. She skillfully used a fork and knife to cut off a turkey leg.

“Here.”

Before Caron could even refuse, the delicious-looking leg was placed on his plate.

“Haha..”

The villa’s servants watched them with strangely fond expressions.

Caron stared at his plate and then began to eat, moving his fork. He had learned some etiquette, but his movements were still quite clumsy.

“Is it good?”

At Rosa’s question, he nodded, a faint smile on his lips.

The heartwarming dinner came to an end.

A gentle breeze that made one feel mellow. The scenery of a true autumn evening.

The sky was turning a dusky blue. As it grew darker, people started heading home, and faint smoke from burning firewood rose from the chimneys as they prepared dinner.

It was time to part. Rosa and Caron walked to the edge of the village.

It was a faintly starlit evening. From Caron’s chin-level view, he could see the small, round top of her head swaying. They were comfortable enough with each other that silence wasn’t awkward. They each walked slowly, lost in their own thoughts.

Rosa walked ahead of Caron, whistling.

Caron secretly filled his vision with the girl in front of him.

Rosa had changed in the past few years. She used to wear only pants, but now she sometimes wore skirts even at the Eckshire villa.

Was this just what girls did, suddenly becoming more feminine? At least, that’s how it seemed to Caron.

So, sometimes he was surprised.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Just like now.

The ruby-like eyes were staring at him clearly. The soft moonlight, the gentle breeze, the faint sound of crickets. All of it combined to create a beautiful memory.

“Caron. What is it? Do you have something to say?”

Perhaps she had felt his gaze. Rosa looked at him, an expression of curiosity on her face.

The fragments of emotion that had been slowly accumulating. They finally gathered and took form. Caron’s heart tightened with this emotion that he couldn’t yet understand.

“..I can’t come next month.”

Hiding all those emotions, Caron forced himself to speak.

“Oh..? Are you busy?”

Rosa asked casually. Caron hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Probably.”

It would definitely be a long time.

“Then we can see each other next time. It’s not like we have to meet every time.”

Was it his wishful thinking? He thought he detected a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“So, what’s going on?”

Rosa asked, genuinely curious. Caron opened his mouth after a long moment of thought.

“I have to go somewhere far away. There’s something I have to do.”

“..Is it something you can’t tell me about?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, Rosa didn’t press further.

“I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Instead, she offered him those words of encouragement.

Caron nodded slowly. At this moment, there was one phrase etched in his heart.

“See you again. Rosa.”

He said it casually. But to keep this promise, he would have to give it his all.

“Yeah.”

But if he could see that smile again…

An unavoidable fight, a long fight. He could endure any of it.

The Anencia family was a relatively historic one. Although their influence had waned, her great-grandfather had been one of the kingdom’s founding families.

It had been quite some time ago. There was once a bloodbath in the kingdom.

The previous Count Anencia had publicly declared neutrality, and fortunately, that tightrope walk had protected the family from danger, but as a result, they were pushed out of the central power.

“But Father always said. Even after countless reconsiderations, that choice was the best one at the time.”

The rich scent of jasmine tea wafted up to his nose. The man stood up, stirring the teaspoon in his hand. Standing by the window, he could see the modest but charming view of the mansion.

Delphinad, the capital of what was now an empire.

The city was broadly divided into four districts.

The inner city, where the mansions of powerful families were gathered; the commercial district, bustling with workshops and shops; the outskirts, where less prominent noble families and wealthy merchants lived; and finally, the commoners’ residential area near the outer walls.

The location of a mansion signified the family’s status, and the Anencia mansion was located in the outskirts.

“I have never been ashamed of that fact. I respected my father for making that choice, and I have never desired more than necessary.”

The count continued, lost in thought.

“That’s what life is. Eating delicious food, seeing beautiful things, sometimes seeking them out yourself, and meeting the one and only partner of your life. Eventually raising children who are the apples of your eye… Isn’t that what makes life worth living?”

“That’s right.”

The butler, who had been with him for a long time, knew this well. His master was a man who sought a simple and happy life above all else. Having lost his beloved wife long ago, it was no exaggeration to say that his only reason for living now was one thing.

“Guess, Ed. What do you think I’m most concerned about right now?”

The deep furrow in his brow, the slight tremor of the paper in his hand. As her father, he couldn’t not know. His precious daughter was meeting someone regularly.

Because she had been sickly since childhood, his daughter hadn’t been able to meet friends her own age.

“Actually, that’s partly why I’ve been letting it go.”

The circumstances of the boy’s first discovery, and the attitude the young boy showed, didn’t raise any suspicion. There were always guards nearby when the two played, so there was no real cause for concern.

But the real problem was something else.

Slide-

With a troubled expression, the count handed the paper he was holding to the butler.

“Tell me. What should I do?”

“This is..”

The butler’s eyes widened in surprise.